On Hollywood Boulevard, a black sedan sped by, belching out a puff of black smoke that made a girl on the sidewalk cough, covering her mouth. The boy with her quickly patted her back.
"Are you okay?" Brian Leicester asked with concern.
Daenerys shook her head, "I'm fine." Then she glared at the departing car, cursing, "Damn old jalopy!"
Brian tugged at her, saying, "Come on, let's go. Stop complaining."
Daenerys coughed a couple more times before walking with Brian towards the Walk of Fame.
As they reached the intersection of the Walk of Fame and La Brea Avenue, Daenerys noticed a huge billboard and almost shouted, "Brian, look! Look over there!"
Brian followed her gaze to see a massive movie poster on the billboard at the southeast corner of the intersection. The image was strikingly new and bright, depicting a man roaring towards the sky. With a red cape and red briefs highlighting his every well-defined muscle, the man looked formidable.
Brian and Daenerys stopped in their tracks, staring at the poster in awe.
The man on the poster stood like a mountain, as hard as rock, as fierce as waves, and as imposing as a god of war.
It seemed to epitomize the ultimate in male virility!
"So..." Daenerys mumbled quietly, "so exaggerated."
Brian snapped back to reality and said, "Exaggerated? I don't think so. Matthew's physique has always been like that."
Daenerys shook her head, "No." She pointed at the poster, "I'm talking about the red briefs."
"Uh..." Brian was speechless for a moment because, indeed, they were quite exaggerated.
"Is Matthew really that big?" Daenerys looked at the poster where Matthew, except for the boots, cape, and red briefs, wore no other clothing. "Isn't that deliberately done?"
Brian thought for a moment, "Probably not. Don't you remember? A long time ago, paparazzi took photos of Matthew and Keira Knightley in their swimsuits. Matthew... well, looked like that."
"Oh!" Daenerys suddenly smacked her forehead, "Now that you mention it, I remember. Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, and Rachel McAdams once said something similar about Matthew."
"'300' is about to be released," Brian recalled, "This must be the beginning of the promotional blitz. The trailer should be out soon."
Daenerys grabbed Brian's arm, pulling him along, "Let's go, let's go! There's a theater nearby. Let's see if the trailer is being shown."
Five minutes later, the two entered a chain theater. Because it was the weekend, the theater was crowded, with many people staring at the big screen dedicated to showing trailers.
"THIS. IS. SPARTA!"
Daenerys just caught this iconic shout, followed by a slow-motion scene of the sculpted Matthew kicking a burly black man into a well.
Then came a full close-up of Matthew.
He stood there, under a sky thick with clouds and before golden fields of wheat, with every detail of his body clearly visible.
"Glup..."
Daenerys involuntarily swallowed, quickly covering her mouth and glancing around. She noticed that the throats of the women around her were moving, obviously doing the same thing.
"He's so mesmerizing."
"Now that's a man."
Low murmurs reached her ears.
"Those muscles, I really want to touch them. I wonder if they feel as hard as they look."
Hearing these comments, Daenerys felt like covering her face. Didn't these women have any shame? They were being so blatant.
After a round in Hollywood and Burbank, Giovanni Salvatore returned to the luxury shops on Rodeo Drive, sat at his desk, and opened his computer. He connected with the Milan headquarters to discuss the material he had faxed over. The Milan office was hesitant about David Beckham, but some favored using him, considering the potential combined impact of the Beckham couple.
This way, they could also bring in Victoria.
Giovanni Salvatore asked about the situation but didn't say much. If no decision could be made, it would naturally go to Mr. Giorgio Armani himself.
"Joe, are you busy?"
Suddenly, Giovanni Salvatore's MSN blinked, showing a message from Donadoni.
"Not busy." Giovanni typed slowly, "Just browsing entertainment news aimlessly."
Donadoni sent another message, "I just saw an interesting video. It's the trailer for Matthew Horner's new movie. Take a look; it might help with your current work."
"Okay!"
Donadoni quickly sent a link. Giovanni Salvatore clicked it, leading to a video on YouTube's film section. The page buffered automatically and soon played a two-minute trailer.
It was for a historical epic film, and the lead actor was familiar to him—Matthew Horner!
After watching for just a few seconds, Giovanni Salvatore was glued to the screen. Matthew Horner's look... his look... was simply...
He couldn't find the right words but couldn't help imagining what it would be like if Matthew Horner, with his displayed physique, muscles, and male charisma, replaced the red briefs with Armani's snug underwear.
It would surely be astonishing, highly captivating, and unforgettable...
"Phew..."
Giovanni Salvatore exhaled deeply. After watching the trailer, he immediately contacted the Milan office, sending them the link to the "300" trailer.
Perhaps the hesitant ones in Milan would finally make a decision?
The trailer for "300" was being promoted simultaneously on TV, online, and in theaters. Matthew's personal blog also added a section for the trailer.
In just twenty-four hours, the trailer on his blog alone had over a million views.
In today's era, such a number of hits was incredibly impressive.
On YouTube, the trailer ranked among the top three most popular videos of the day within twenty-four hours, garnering great feedback.
The comments section under the video was abuzz with all sorts of colorful remarks.
"Is Matthew like this throughout the movie? If so, I'm definitely watching it. Never mind the plot or the background—just Matthew in those red briefs is worth the ticket price."
"Was that digitally enhanced? Is there a giant cucumber in those red briefs?"
"I'll see the movie for sure, but I have one question: Matthew, do you walk comfortably with that?"
"If Matthew ran the 100 meters and tied at the finish line with someone, he'd definitely win."
"Fifty pounds, undressed?"
"This... could this be one step to the stomach?"
"This is embarrassing. Compared to Matthew, my boyfriend's so small it could get an ant pregnant."
The internet was flooded with comments, with no restrictions. Almost every site or page featuring the "300" trailer or Leonidas's promotional posters had similar remarks.
The topic quickly gained traction. Luckily, social media was just starting; otherwise, it would have been overwhelming.
Even so, the public email inbox of the Angels Agency was flooded with thousands of requests for photos of that part of Matthew. Some journalists even confronted Matthew directly with these questions.
According to the pre-planned strategy, Matthew ignored and didn't respond, neither confirming nor denying anything.
However, when the spokesperson for the "300" crew was interviewed, they confidently asserted that before filming, all the actors underwent months of intense physical training. Everything, including their physiques, was the real deal; there was no digital enhancement in post-production.
This only fanned the flames, increasing the buzz around the topic.
The vague answer from the crew and Matthew's silence led entertainment journalists to seek other ways to verify the information.
Soon, Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel McAdams, and Adriana Lima, who had been rumored to have brief flings with Matthew, became targets for the paparazzi.
Given the heated topic and the fact that these women had previously acknowledged their brief relationships with Matthew, they didn't shy away from discussing him. Besides, it provided them with some publicity.
Soon, journalists extracted descriptions from these women, such as exaggerated, terrifying, and amazing.
Of course, this so-called brief relationship was well understood by the media and the public.
To sum it up from the public's perspective, a quote perfectly fits the situation:
"We know they are lying. They know we know they are lying. We know they know we know they are lying. They know we are pretending to believe they are not lying..."
Such is the nature of the entertainment industry.
Especially with gossip and rumors like this, how could the public not understand what's going on? But, like Leonardo, Matthew wasn't married and didn't have a girlfriend, so calling him a playboy wasn't too harsh.
During the years when Leonardo was officially dating Gisele Bündchen, how many other women was he rumored to be with? The media and fans weren't particularly harsh in their criticism.
"Is it working?"
In the car heading to Marvel Studios, Matthew asked Helen Herman, "Any news from Armani?"
Helen Herman shook her head slightly, "Not yet." She sighed, "From what I understand, some in Armani favor the Beckham and Victoria duo for their combined appeal."
Matthew nodded, not saying much, his thoughts focused more on the upcoming signing ceremony with Marvel.
"If you had a celebrity wife or girlfriend," Helen Herman repeated an old argument, "Beckham would be no competition for you."
Matthew shook his head, "That would just tie me down."
The car arrived at the small office building where Marvel was located. In the plaza in front of the building, a large number of reporters were gathered, ready for the press conference where Matthew would announce his investment in Marvel.
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